Francis Ford Coppola’s granddaughter admitted she was left baffled after UC Berkley invited her to speak at an event just because of her famous family.
Romy Mars revealed the invitation to address students at the Californian university ‘isn’t sitting right with me’
Mars, 18, is the daughter of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola and granddaughter of Francis Ford.
‘I don’t even know what you want me to give advice on. I was born into this. I don’t have work ethic, and I don’t have tips and tricks. I don’t have insight on the business,’ Mars confessed.
‘Honestly I just sit on my a** and write songs, and post on TikTok. And you want me to do a speech at UC Berkeley?!’ she continued.
Mars added that UC Berkeley has previously hosted the creators of Khan Academy, PayPal, and medical chiefs to speak on campus.
She was stunned that the university wanted her to come and speak, asking her followers: ‘Why? What’s going on?’
UC Berkeley has had a slew of impressive speakers grace their campus, including the first female Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Randy Schekman.
Mars didn’t elaborate on whether she officially declined the invitation. The Daily Mail reached out to her team for comment.
UC Berkeley clarified in a statement to The Daily Californian that a campus club called The Berkeley Forum had invited Mars to speak.
‘From our perspective, Romy Mars’ value as a speaker is directly linked to the interest the Berkeley community would have in her insight (not her familial connections),’ a representative said.
‘Giving opportunities to nepo babies isn’t our goal; giving opportunities to the Berkeley community is.’
The statement added that the forum was interested in inviting Mars because of the way she acknowledges her ‘nepo baby’ status and to give her insight into the public sphere.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the media team at UC Berkeley for additional comment.
Mars’ followers loved her refreshing honesty and rushed to the comments of her post to praise the video.
‘Honestly love this reaction bcuz at least you’re checking your own privilege,’ one comment read.
‘GIRLLLL you’re my favorite nepo baby… ur so real,’ another added.
‘Honestly this made me like you 10x more keep being you queen,’ a third wrote.
Some even suggested that she should do the speech, with one writing: ‘I actually feel like it could be really interesting to hear about your experience as a Nepo baby.
‘A lot of the student body at Berkeley was also born into a lot of privilege, and you have achieved a level of self-awareness of your privilege that not many of those students have.’
Mars has become an internet favorite personality for her candid takes on being a ‘nepo baby’ and her humor towards the glamorous lifestyle she was born into.
She first went viral for a video where she admitted she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on her dad’s credit card to have dinner with a friend from camp.
Mars’ father is Thomas Pablo Croquet, known professionally as Thomas Mars, the frontman of an indie-pop band called Phoenix.
She also went viral last month for dancing with heartthrob actor Jacob Elordi to Lil MU’s song, Top of Cars.
Elordi starred in the Sofia Coppola-directed film, Priscilla, as Elvis Presley.
Mars also posted a photo of herself drinking a glass of wine with him on her Instagram and captioned it ‘Alisters,’ a nod to her recent single of the same name.
Mars released her first singles, Stuck Up and From a Distance last year.
Her song, A-Lister, went viral on TikTok over the summer, and she dropped a single called Ego in August.
Mars also appeared in her grandfather’s film, Megalopolis, last year, and made her red carpet debut alongside him at the Cannes Film Festival.
